1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inflator that can be mounted on various kinds of vehicles for protecting a passenger when a vehicle receives an impact mainly from a side of the vehicle, and an air bag apparatus using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
As an inflator for an inflating type safety system of an automobile, in order to optimally protect a passenger in accordance with a position of a seat in a vehicle such as a driver side, a passenger side and the like, there are known various inflators such as an air bag inflator for a driver side, an air bag inflator for a passenger side, an air bag inflator for a side collision, an inflator for a curtain air bag, an inflator for a knee-bolster, an inflator for an inflatable seat belt, an inflator for a tubular system and an inflator for a pretensioner. Among these inflators, the inflator for a curtain air bag inflates and develops instantaneously a curtain air bag having a thickness of some centimeters over windows of a vehicle when the vehicle received the impact from the sides.
The above various inflators are required to be reduced in weight according to the requirement for weight reduction of a vehicle itself, and simultaneously, a facilitated manufacturing process and enhanced safety at actuation are also required.
As related conventional techniques, a device for inflating a flexible container using helium and hydrogen is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,066. A gas flow device for an air bag using a pressurized insert gas is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,486. An air bag apparatus for inflating an air bag with nitrogen or helium is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,886. A side-collision inflator housing for an air bag using a pressurized gas and a gas generating agent is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,493. A pressurized gas inflator using argon or nitrogen as a pressurized gas is disclosed in JP-U No. 3031246.